The present-day U.S. military qualifies by any measure as highly professional, much more so than its Cold War predecessor. Yet the purpose of today’s professionals is not to preserve peace but to fight unending wars in distant places. Intoxicated by a post-Cold War belief in its own omnipotence, the United States allowed itself to be drawn into a long series of armed conflicts, almost all of them yielding unintended consequences and imposing greater than anticipated costs. Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. forces have destroyed many targets and killed many people. Only rarely, however, have they succeeded in accomplishing their assigned political purposes. . . . [F]rom our present vantage point, it becomes apparent that the “Revolution of ‘89” did not initiate a new era of history. At most, the events of that year fostered various unhelpful illusions that impeded our capacity to recognize and respond to the forces of change that actually matter.

Andrew Bacevich


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

War News for Tuesday, October 18, 2011

US Dept of Defense - U.S. Forces in Iraq Prepare for Transition


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
1: A parked car bomb went off in Karrada, a central district of Baghdad, killing eight people including three policemen and wounded eighteen others late on Monday, police and hospital sources said.

#2: A roadside bomb blew up killing a civilian and wounding five others late on Monday in Palestine Street, north-eastern Baghdad, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Gunmen stormed a barber shop, killed three customers and wounded the barber late on Monday in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Three civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near their car in the village of Bani Zaid, west of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a source from Diyala's operations command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#3: In a separate incident, a policeman was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to his car detonated in the town of Baladruz, some 30 km east of Baquba, the source said.


Tikrit
#1: Gunmen stormed a tribal sheikh's house and killed one of his body guards late on Monday in Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A soldier was injured in a bomb explosion in Kirkuk on Sunday targeting his patrol in Al Nida’a Street central Al Hawaija district south-western Kirkuk.

#2: A policeman was also injured in a bomb explosion on a checkpoint in Al Quds Street in Tesiin district southern Kirkuk.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a tribal leader late on Monday in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said.

A tribal personality was assassinated by unknown gunmen, security sources said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the unknown gunmen this afternoon killed Mohammed Khalid Dhahir al-Shirabi, north of Mosul.

#2: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead a bakery worker late on Monday in eastern Mosul, a local police source said.

#3: Gunmen shot dead a civilian late on Monday in western Mosul, a local police source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Paramilitary forces have raided a militant hideout in Pakistan’s rugged tribal region near the Afghan border, sparking fighting that killed nine soldiers and 14 insurgents, officials said. Clashes are common in the area, but the death toll from the fighting Monday was unusually high on the Pakistani side. The raid took place in Akka Khel village in the Khyber tribal area, said Farooq Khan, a senior local government official. Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas confirmed the number of soldiers killed and said they were from the paramilitary Frontier Corps, which is mainly used to fight in the northwest. Another military official said helicopter gunships were called in to support the troops after the fighting escalated. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

#2: Seven troops of Afghan National Army (ANA) were killed and another missing after Taliban attack in Bakwa district of western Farah province yesterday, an ANA officer said Monday. Taliban gunmen ambushed an ANA convoy in Poza area of Bakwa district, killing seven troops, a high-ranking Afghan National Army official told AIP.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Houston M. Taylor

MoD: Rifleman Vijay Rai

2 comments:

Dancewater said...

Aswat Al Iraq / Politics , Ninewa
Mosul celebrates US forces withdrawal
10/17/2011 6:00 PM

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Ninewa province organized today a central festival to celebrate the U.S.
forces withdrawal form Mosul city.

Our Aswat al-Iraq correspondent reported that the festival was attended by senior governmental officials.

In a press conference, Governor Atheel Nujaifi said that the province is entering a new era of cooperation between the executive power and the military.

According to the agreement between Baghdad and Washington in 2008, the U.S.
forces are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of this year.

Mosul, the center of Ninewa province, lies 405 km northeast of the capital, Baghdad.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=145309&l=1

Dancewater said...

US withdrawal has nothing with the security stability - MP
10/18/2011 8:26 PM

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Member of the Kurdistan bloc Mahmoud Othman declared that the U.S.
forces withdrawal has nothing to do with the improvement of the security situation, pointing out that such state is connected with the harmony of political blocs.

"Political harmony is the only solution for security stability in the country," Othman told Aswat al-Iraq.

Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced that the U.S.
withdrawal will contribute to the stability of the security situation in Iraq.

It was decided that the U.S.
forces should withdraw by the end of this year according to an agreement signed in 2008, but many U.S.
circles want an extension of their forces.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/Default.aspx?page=article_page&c=slideshow&id=145328